A senior maths teacher has been struck off after she lied to her pupils about being shot in a warzone in a string of bizarre made-up war stories.
Alexandra Slay, a Head of Year, lied about being in the Australian Army and told pupils she would take trips to war zones, at one point texting a pupil pretending to be another soldier and claiming she had been seriously injured.
The 34-year-old sent letters to her pupils to be opened in a ‘worst case scenario’ where she told them that if she died then they should know she was ‘doing a brave thing’.
Miss Slay, a head of year at Epsom and Ewell High School, also claimed to have suffered serious injuries and ‘lost severe amounts of blood'.
A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) report released on Wednesday revealed how Miss Slay told multiple pupils she was "mentoring" them, and would send them messages including "personal diary entries".
One student received over 2,500 emails and messages - some of which were from an imaginary Lieutenant telling of Miss Slay's made-up war stories.
After admitting that her 'over-familiar' messages were 'fabricated', she resigned from the school and the TRA misconduct hearing resulted in her being banned from the profession indefinitely.
Miss Slay, who joined the school in December 2016 and became Head of Year in May 2023, gave a pupil a handwritten note which said: ‘If I am gone in person … know that I was doing a brave thing and I will look down from heaven and smile when you succeed and cry when you fall short’.
Alexandra Slay was appointed Head of Year at Epsom and Ewell High School (pictured) in May 2023
The note, from January 2022, continued: ‘Carry on each day and know that out of this cruel world, I was able to have this chance to mentor you. You, out of the 7.753 billion people in this world.’
That April, Miss Slay started emailing a different pupil with 'personal and emotionally-loaded exchanges'.
However when the pupil tried to distance herself, the teacher said 'I needed you to realise that teachers are not a punching bag, your actions have an impact on us'.
In May 2023 Miss Slay was found to have sent emails to a pupil about her upcoming trip to a war zone as part of her role in the army.
She also gave the pupil handwritten notes about her upcoming 'warzone' deployment.
In July 2023 she sent a text message to a pupil saying: "Got told I am flying out Monday arvo(sic) now instead so this week is now going to be Monday – Wednesday Evening or Thursday super early in the morning."
Two days later she messaged again saying 'Hey, just letting you know I have arrived and reached base'.
Text messages were later sent from a phone from a Lt. Danny Blackburn stating that ‘Captain Slay’ had sustained serious injuries during the trip.
It said: "Under the advice of my chief and back-up plan from Cpt. Slay, I am giving update on Cpt. Slay’s condition…
"Earlier in the day, Cpt. Slay and several others have been severely wounded. Cpt. Slay sustained two rounds to her abdomen and lost severe amounts of blood… Cpt. Slay has been in surgery to remove two rounds from her abdomen.”
A separate message later claimed her condition had ‘worsened’ and her core body temperature was ‘alarmingly low’, while a third message the next day added: ‘Cpt. Slay has woken up and her vitals and temperature have stabilised… As Cpt. Slay is awake. I will be passing her belongings including her phone back to her.”
Further messages over the following five days included 'Cpt. Slay went into cardiac arrest and the doctors are currently trying to regain her pulse and ensure her organs are not shutting down' and 'Cpt. Slay left this message for me to pass on to you. “If things turn for the worst. Please be proud and know that I have tried by best”.
The teacher was caught in August 2023 after texts and emails were found on a pupil's phone. She resigned three months later.
When asked about the emails by the school, one pupil replied: "Yes, Miss Slay is actually in the Australian army, this is from when she was away."
When later interviewed about the messages, Miss Slay admitted they were 'all fabricated' and ‘a lie’.
Admitting that she "had not been involved in any fighting", Miss Slay said she ‘made up the lie to feel that I belong, was a part of the world."
Miss Slay also admitted that she used codenames to discuss members of staff with pupils.
It was found that she had had 2,547 email communications with one pupil, 1,175 with another and 645 with a third.
The TRA tribunal - which Miss Slay did not attend – concluded she was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
Although she was banned from teaching indefinitely, Miss Slay may apply to have the order removed in two years.
Shabana Robertson, chairing the hearing, said: "Miss Slay’s actions were deliberate. There was no evidence to suggest that Miss Slay was acting under extreme duress, e.g. a physical threat or significant intimidation.”